Diary of Troll Dog

My son Arthur's back to school photos.

Puppy netsuke PNGs.

This was back in 2016 at a theater in Little Washington, Virginia with our bluegrass band Walker’s Run. Jackdog was as good a hound as ever was, and loved nothing more than to sing. I couldn’t find anyone to watch him during this little weekend tour so just brought him along. His bed was backstage and I guess someone didn’t shut the green room door after we got called back to play an encore. We started the tune (Hangman’s Reel) and after about a minute I noticed everybody in the audience pulling out their phones to take pictures. Then we looked over and saw Jack had found his way out to the stage. He looked at us, looked at the audience, and then let her rip.

Jack was a rescue, and I suspect he had been abused as he was very scared and completely silent when we met. He stayed that way for a year, not barking, howling or so much as whispering. A few months after I got him from the pound in Rockbridge County, Virginia where the kennels are full of abandoned hunting dogs, we moved to the Central African Republic where we lived for two years. We spent a lot of time alone together there as I slowly got him to trust that the world could be a loving place.

One night I was playing guitar and when I picked up a slide and played a little run Jack for the first time made a sound. He had heard the howling sound of the glass on the steel strings and emulated it, nearly note for note. I was thrilled, and jam sessions became a nightly thing. From then on, from Africa to Washington to finally home in the Blue Ridge, anytime we played music Jack would join in. He became not just my best friend, but my ever present musical partner.

Jack was diagnosed with cancer in 2018 and given six months to live. He outlasted the prognosis by two years and finally passed on in the Fall of 2020. His spirit is very much alive in the music. I have a guitar with an engraving of him on the headstock, and a few of his ashes inside so he’s still always singing when we play.

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